Lightweight champion  Islam Makhachev sits atop the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings, but there’s growing number of people who believe light heavyweight titleholder  Alex Pereira should be in that spot.  Pereira arrived in the UFC in late 2021 carrying a lot of recognition for his two kickboxing wins over then middleweight champion  Israel Adesanya .  Three fights into his UFC career, Pereira faced Adesanya in the UFC 281 main event in November 2021.  He had only been in the organization for a year.